Listening to Donald Trump speak about illegal immigration, you could be convinced that tens of thousands of foreigners are simply just pouring over the US’ Southern border daily.
In fact, the Republican Presidential candidate gained momentum and was able to seal the party’s nomination – much to the shock of many Republicans – because he was able to convince those on the far right with this racist rant. Therefore, in their minds, his “big, beautiful wall” between the US and Mexico made absolute sense and could not come fast enough.
Yet, the reality is that could not be further from the truth!
The truth is that illegal immigration is down and most of all, immigration from Mexico has been rapidly declining since 2007, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on U.S. Census Bureau data released recently.
The US’ unauthorized immigrant population is still at the estimated 11.1 million – as it was in 2014. In fact, as Jeffrey S. Passel and D’Vera Cohn found for Pew, “Across the United States, most states saw no statistically significant change in the size of their unauthorized immigrant populations from 2009 to 2014.”
Most interestingly, while Trump claims Mexico is sending the US its “rapists and criminals” across the border, the Pew Report found that “the number (of migrants) from Mexico has steadily declined since 2007, the first year of the Great Recession.”
The researchers found that after rising for decades, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. who are from Mexico began to decline from a peak of 6.9 million in 2007 and has continued to shrink.
In fact, many undocumented Mexican immigrants have been heading out since 2009, with data showing departures have exceeded arrivals. That data also shows that the unauthorized immigrant population fell in seven states across the US due to a decline in the number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants.
So who exactly will Trump’s “wall” keep out? Maybe the imaginary brown and black immigrants he and his supporters feel are pouring in to take over the country!
The data further clearly shows what every sane person knows – that the undocumented immigrant population has been here for 10 years or more so are a major part of the fabric of the country and its economy. And most of all, they account for only an estimated 3.5 percent of the overall population.
There is no denying The Donald is dead wrong on illegal immigration and illegal immigrants in the U.S. What any sane Presidential candidate should be promoting is a plan to ensure those from the 3.5 percent who pass a back ground check, can pay fines and speak English are allowed to secure a permit to work and travel internationally. This is not just sound leadership but a wise national security plan in the era of terror in which we live.
El Trumpeto, like I like to call The Donald, has proven that not only is he dead wrong on illegal immigration, he has to real plan that can work to solve the crisis within. It is why come November 8th, he cannot be allowed to win not even one immigrant vote. Haitians, beware!
